Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 47

Week 47 and Christmas is coming to Los Gallardos! On Tuesday a man knocked on the door and asked us to move our car along a bit so that he could put up the Christmas light, so now we have our usual angel right outside our door.

Yesterday afternoon I decided I had sat around long enough so I had a walk around the village to look at the other lights. These stars are stretched across our road at intervals.

And this design is repeated all up the parallel road.

This one is on the front of the little church. I am looking forward to seeing them all lit up.

While I was out I also took some photos of the trees around the plaza and the children's playground opposite. Every autumn the work men come with a lifter-lorry and skip to trim the trees, and what they do seems quite drastic. The trees are given a flat top, sides and bottom, so each one resembles a polo-mint. They are hollow in the centre and look a bit sad, but we know they will be full again come the summer and giving much need shade to anyone sitting under them.

Occasionally one loses its round shape, but it is still trimmed with a hollow center.

The sun is back now and it is relatively warm with a sharp wind unless you find a sheltered spot. I love these bright days when the sky is a clear blue, but we did have a fair bit of rain at the weekend, and earlier this week. It always amuses me to see this hibiscus. They love the rain and always send out new flowers after a shower, but this one is usually a very bright yellow with a deep red centre. But after heavy rain the colours seem to run together and I get an orange flower. It will be yellow and red again come the summer.

Here is something a bit diferent that I have just finished. I can't remember when I last did any latch-hook work but it was back in the day when 'Redicut' was a well known company selling rug making kits, so it is probably forty years since I bought this little set, and started making it. I came across it at the back of the cupboard when I was sorting everything out and thought I might as well finish it. It was about one third done, but amazingly I still had all the little bundles of cut yarn, and once I got back into it, I soon had it finished. It is supposed to be a cushion but I know I wouldn't use it like that, so I found a ball of chunky wook and crocheted an edge around it to make a small rug. My grand-daughter might like it by her bed.

I had quite a bit of the border wool left so I crocheted this pair of hand-warmers. They are much thicker than I would ususally make, but maybe I will be glad of them if we get to the UK this winter.

Today I am doing a very different project. I set up my lazer engraver and I am engraving a rather nice picture onto a plain wooden bread-board that I bought off Amazon. Hopefully I will be pleased with the finished result, but it is going to take several hours to do, so I will show it completed next week.

There have been a few red skies this week so here are a couple of them to close with.

And now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and publish this tomorrow.

Friday Smiles 2024#Week 46

We have had a week of showers, some light and some persistant and heavy, and I think we must have had more rain in the past week than we had all through last winter. But we are not really complaining. We are warm and dry at home, and at least the reservoirs are filling up which keeps the agricultural workers happy.

We had some fun on Sunday when there was a rally of vintage cars driving through the village. They then parked up around the main car park so we walked over to have a look at them. Apparently to be vintage they have to be more than twenty years old and less than one hundred, which explains why I recognised so many of them from my childhood days. Many were American, such as Packards and Chevrolets,  but also Fords and a handsome Rolls Royce. They were obviously well loved and well cared for, though some looked far from comfortable to ride in. Here are just a few of them.

I recently showed a trial-run triangle I made to try out the pattern for a kit I have waiting for me at my son's house in UK. A new part of the design is released each week, so I have now tried out the square - a fairly straightforward motif to make, ...

... and the popcorn diamond which was a bit more tricky. But I will be taking my time to do it, so it should be manageable. Although the pieces look very different they fit together beautifully. Jessica Wifall is a very clever designer.

Not a lot else has happened this week but we have had some very lovely, and other rather exciting skies. They range from calm sunsets with storm clouds creeping in, to lowering clouds in an eirie light, to fiery orange and reds. The last one made me think of an angry Yoda.

And that is it for this week, so I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and publish this in the morning.